Dentists often have a difficult time adequately illuminating the inside of a patient's mouth. Most dentists use an overhead lamp mounted on a pedestal and extending above the patient's chair. Usually, either the dentist or an assistant must frequently adjust the lamp to illuminate the region of the mouth where dental work is being performed. Such adjustments are required because the patient's head may move or the dentist may have to work on a different tooth or in a different location in the mouth. Each time the position of the light needs to be changed, the dental procedure is interrupted. The dentist must then reposition the lamp himself or provide appropriate instructions to his assistant. In either event, manual manipulation of the dental lamp is time consuming and annoying. Moreover, standard overhead dental lamps are located a distance from the mouth and typically do not provide optimal illumination. At present, such lights are only able to illuminate a 28 mm surface within the mouth. This limited area of lighting usually necessitates even further adjustments of the light.
Presently, fiberoptic illuminators are widely employed in medical and surgical procedures. However, dentists only occasionally utilize such illuminators. These instruments typically feature a head lamp that is worn by the physician and tethered by a fiberoptic cable to a light source. Dentists performing work inside the patient's mouth normally dislike wearing an item that ties or tethers them to another instrument. Such an arrangement restricts their freedom of movement during the dental procedure. Furthermore utilizing standard fiberoptic illumination systems requires the purchase and introduction of expensive and sometimes bulky equipment into the dental office.
Fiberoptic lighting has also been attached to dental mirrors used directly inside the patient's mouth. Unfortunately, such illuminated dental mirrors are rather bulky and seriously limit the dentist's working area within the mouth. Additionally, these appliances cannot be rested in the patient's mouth, and instead, must be constantly held and manipulated by the dentist. Fiberoptically lighted mirrors too are tethered to a light source and tend to restrict dentist's movement.